Interview with Delphine Ferré: Labels should “think of Deezer first when launching new artists”

Today marks the final call for submissions to the Midem Artist Accelerator programme in partnership with Deezer, Midem and Pepsi. Leading the Artist Accelerator activity from Deezer’s side is Delphine Ferré, VP of international artist marketing. Here, she tells us more about her role, and why new artists are at the heart of Deezer’s business model.

midemblog: How do you work to optimise Deezer’s usefulness for artists?

Delphine Ferré: My day to day activities vary depending on where I am that week. I spend most of my time in Paris however, I also split my time between London and the US. Usually that means meetings with labels, managers and artists to explain what Deezer is and why it will benefit them. We’ll talk about how they can work with Deezer to create a more personalised service to enhance their campaigns. When I’m not out and about I work alongside our 50-strong team of editors, our social media team as well as our CRM guys in order to understand how best we can integrate various activities into the artist’s plans.

> Why did Deezer decide to become a partner of the Midem Artist Accelerator?

Midem’s Artist Accelerator programme totally matches with our ambition in terms of highlighting the importance of discovering and recommending new artists. Our belief in the importance of music discovery coupled with the fact that Midem is an international organisation and we are a global platform, means that we have a lot to share in terms of international resource and, of course, knowledge.

> What do you hope to gain from the partnership?

We want labels, management and artists themselves to think of Deezer first when launching new artists. We have a desire to work more closely with them in order to get the best out of the potential of our platform – after all, we are all playing an important part in building the new music economy.

We also want to be directly involved so new artists can truly understand the benefits of a digital streaming platform and get the most out of the many new tools we have that allow them to reach and engage with fans in a way they couldn’t before.

We also use our newsletter to directly target fans of artists to generate interest in their upcoming live shows, and to promote new artists to fans of similar artists, helping them increase their overall fanbase.

> What can artists get from Deezer that they can’t from other streaming platforms?

– Exposure in over 180 markets worldwide
– Human curation – our team of 50 editors work alongside our algorithm to make sure users get the new releases based on what they really want to hear. It also means that we sometimes can suggest things that we think users ‘might’ like and help them discover even more of what they love. Editors individually have the ability to unearth talent themselves in each territory, regardless of the marketing plan.
– Deezer 4 Artists (putting data in the hands of the artists)
– Beautiful pieces of content such as Deezer Sessions
– Better quality of music through our high def offering – Deezer Elite
– Worldwide live streaming of shows.

> What do you love the most about your job?

It’s the travelling that I love the most (who wouldn’t?!). Being able to travel for work means you get a better understanding of the music business across the globe, and having this approach means I can understand the different ways labels like to work across different markets. This means Deezer can ensure it is doing its best in every country it’s in. I also get hear more new music from around the world than most people, so I’m quite lucky in that respect. Another reason I love my job is that it gives me the opportunity to use my years of experience on the label side (Sony), to help make the Deezer offering even better. I understand the label perspective more than most.

> Who are your top 3 favourite artists? And the albums you’re listening to right now?

Deezer, alongside Pepsi, is a partner of the Midem Artist Accelerator, a brand new initiative in which 12 up-and-coming groups will be selected by an artistic committee — including Epic’s LA Reid, Harvey Goldsmith, Pitchfork’s Christopher Kaskie and many more — to play at Midem 2015 this June, and receive high-level advice and mentoring. The deadline for submissions is today, so get over to the MAA page now!

About Author

James Martin is Head of Social Media for Midem organisers Reed MIDEM. This includes defining and rolling out Midem's social media strategy, editing midemblog, influencer outreach, developing Midem's fanbase of 75,000+ music professionals and more.

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This is the official blog of Midem, the destination for music business connections and knowledge, and its conferences (next edition: June 3-6, 2016, Cannes, France).
midemblog is edited by Reed MIDEM's social media team, with regular guest contributions from industry experts.